Borland DataBase Engine (BDE)

Borland DataBase Engine (BDE) for Windows is a universal data access mechanism, used in Borland development tools such as Delphi and C++Builder, as well as in Paradox for Windows and Visual dBASE. With the optional SQL Links drivers, BDE can connect to database management systems such as Sybase, DB2, InterBase, Informix and Oracle. BDE includes the BDE Administrator (BDEADMIN.EXE), which is used to perform the administration and configuration of BDE aliases and drivers.

Borland Database Engine for Windows is connectivity software that serves as an intermediary between applications and data; it can create, restructure, and update tables in local databases and on remote servers. Borland introduced dbExpress as its successor in 2000, and BDE is no longer developed: Embarcadero made it a separate download starting with RAD Studio XE7, and modern alternatives include FireDAC.

The Borland DataBase Engine (BDE) supports both native database drivers and the Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) interface for connecting to multiple standard data sources

Features:

• BDE provides Local SQL, a subset of ANSI-92 SQL that lets users query Paradox and dBASE tables that are not stored on a database server
• Local SQL can also be used to query data from several servers in one query
• Using Borland's own IDAPI interface provides a middleware layer between the user and numerous databases, including dBASE, Paradox, SQL Server, Informix, Oracle, DB2, InterBase and ODBC-compliant databases
• Native drivers for Paradox, dBASE, FoxPro, Microsoft Access and text tables
• The engine has an object-oriented design with re-entrant, thread-safe DLLs. The BDE Administrator is simple and easy to use and displays the driver configuration